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Biden says Sweden will ‘soon’ join NATO at U.S. Air Force address

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(Last Updated On: June 2, 2023)

U.S. President Joe Biden predicted on Thursday Sweden will join NATO “soon”, speaking at the U.S. Air Force Academy days after he hinted at a possible deal to overcome Turkey’s opposition to admitting the Nordic country to the alliance, Reuters reported.

Biden, in a flag-waving commencement address in Colorado Springs, Colorado, warned graduates they will enter service in an increasingly unstable world, citing challenges from Russia and China.

Biden, 80, who stood for much of the hours-long ceremony to shake hands with graduates, appeared to trip over something and fell to his knees towards the end. He was assisted to his feet and walked to his seat unaided.

On Monday, Biden spoke to Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan to congratulate him on his re-election. Biden told reporters Erdogan repeated Ankara’s desire to buy F-16 fighter jets from the United States, while Biden urged Ankara to drop its objection to Sweden’s joining NATO, read the report.

In his commencement speech, Biden said NATO is stronger in spite of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attempt to crack the alliance with his invasion of Ukraine. It is bolstered further, he said, by the recent admission of Finland, “and soon, Sweden.”

“It will happen, I promise you,” he said, but provided no details.

On Monday, Biden said he would speak to Erdogan again soon. NATO’s annual summit is in Vilnius, Lithuania, in July, Reuters reported.

On Tuesday, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken urged Turkey to immediately finalize Sweden’s accession to NATO, saying the country had already taken significant steps to address Ankara’s objections to its membership.

The White House has denied that Biden is pursuing a deal with Turkey to lift its opposition in exchange for F16s.

The 80-year-old president, who is seeking re-election in 2024, stood, throughout the presentation of more than 900 diplomas despite the relatively thin mountain air, shook hands and gave sharp salutes to the blue-uniformed graduates. His fall came at the end of the individual salutes. The Air Force Academy stands at 7,258 feet (2,212.3 meters) above sea level, Reuters reported.

Biden made clear the United States would not back down from the challenge posed by China amid deep strains in the relationship.

“The United States does not seek conflict or confrontation with China. China and the United States should be able to work together where we can to solve some global challenges, like climate,” he said.

“But we are prepared for vigorous competition,” he said, adding the United States would stand up for its interests and that of its partners.

The president emphasized U.S. support for Ukraine in the war with Russia, Reuters reported.

“The American people’s support for Ukraine will not waver,” Biden said.

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North Korea fires ballistic missiles as Blinken visits Seoul

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(Last Updated On: March 18, 2024)

North Korea fired short-range ballistic missiles into the sea on Monday for the first time in two months, as U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Seoul for a conference hosted by President Yoon Suk Yeol on advancing democracy, Reuters reported.

South Korea’s military said several short-range missiles flew about 300 km (186 miles) after being fired between 7:44 a.m. and 8:22 a.m (2244 to 2322 GMT Monday) from Pyongyang, the North’s capital, landing off the east coast.

It condemned the launches as a “clear provocation” and said it was sharing information on them with the United States and Japan.

Japan’s defence ministry said three missiles were launched and travelled about 350 km, with a maximum altitude of 50 km, read the report.

Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida condemned the launches after his country’s coast guard also reported the firing of what it said appeared to be a ballistic missile and specified that it had already ended its flight.

Japan later said that it had detected what appeared to be a second ballistic missile launch by the North, and that both fell outside its exclusive economic zone area.

“North Korea’s series of actions threaten the peace and security of our region and the international community, and are absolutely unacceptable,” Kishida said, calling the launch a violation of U.N. resolutions.

North Korea’s military has been conducting exercises using conventional weapons in recent weeks, often personally overseen by the isolated state’s leader, Kim Jong Un.

The show of force by Pyongyang comes just after the militaries of South Korea and the United States finished 10 days of large-scale annual joint military drills last Thursday.

On Sunday, the South Korean military also mobilised marines, attack helicopters and amphibious assault vehicles in drills aimed at surging troop numbers to reinforce western islands near the sea border with North Korea. The North shelled the islands in 2010.

Blinken is among senior officials from around the world attending the Summit for Democracy conference, which opens on Monday. He will also meet his South Korean counterpart, foreign minister Cho Tae-yul.

The summit is an initiative of U.S. President Joe Biden aimed at discussing ways to stop democratic backsliding and erosion of rights and freedoms worldwide.

In its last ballistic launch on Jan. 14, North Korea fired what it said was an intermediate range hypersonic missile using solid fuel on to test new booster engines and a manoeuvrable warhead.

A month later, it launched multiple cruise missiles off its east coast, including what it said was a new anti-ship missile, Reuters reported.

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Iceland volcano erupts again, spewing fountains of lava

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(Last Updated On: March 17, 2024)

A volcano in Iceland erupted on Saturday for the fourth time since December, the country’s meteorological office said, spewing smoke and bright orange lava into the air in sharp contrast against the dark night sky.

In a video shot from a Coast Guard helicopter and shown on public broadcaster RUV, fountains of molten rock soared from a long fissure in the ground, and lava spread rapidly to each side.

The eruption began at 2023 GMT and the fissure was estimated to be about 2.9 kilometres long, roughly the same size as the last eruption in February, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said in a statement.

Authorities had warned for weeks that an eruption was imminent on the Reykjanes peninsula just south of Iceland’s capital Reykjavik.

The site of the eruption was between Hagafell and Stora-Skogfell, the same area as the previous outbreak on Feb. 8, the Met Office said.

“This was definitely expected,” said Rikke Pedersen, head of the Nordic Volcanological Centre.

“Of course the exact time of the eruption is impossible to predict. The first cues of this moving towards the surface actually only happened about 15 minutes in advance,” she said.

Reykjavik’s Keflavik Airport’s website showed it remained open both for departures and arrivals.

Lava appeared to be flowing rapidly south towards the nearby Grindavik fishing town, where a few of the nearly 4,000 residents had returned following earlier outbreaks, the Met Office said.

The town was again being evacuated, public broadcaster RUV reported. An outbreak in January burned to the ground several of its homes.

“We’re just like, this is business as usual,” Kristin Maria Birgisdottir, who was evacuated from Grindavik in November, told Reuters.

“My son…just called me and said, Mamma, did you know the eruption has started? And I was like, yeah, I did know. Oh, my grandma just told me. So it’s like we don’t even bother telling each other anymore,” she said.

Icelandic police said they had declared a state of emergency for the area.

The nearby Blue Lagoon luxury geothermal spa immediately shut its doors, as it did during previous eruptions.

Iceland, roughly the size of the U.S. state of Kentucky, boasts more than 30 active volcanoes, making the north European island a prime destination for volcano tourism – a niche segment that attracts thousands of thrill seekers.

In 2010, ash clouds from eruptions at the Eyafjallajokull volcano in the south of Iceland spread over large parts of Europe, grounding some 100,000 flights and forcing hundreds of Icelanders to evacuate their homes.

Volcanic outbreaks in the Reykjanes peninsula are so-called fissure eruptions, which do not usually cause large explosions or significant dispersal of ash into the stratosphere.

Gases from the eruption were travelling westwards out at sea, the meteorological office said.

Scientists fear the eruptions could continue for decades, and Icelandic authorities have started building dykes to divert burning lava flows away from homes and critical infrastructure.

The February eruption cut off district heating to more than 20,000 people as lava flows destroyed roads and pipelines.

Located between the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates, among the largest on the planet, Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two move in opposite directions. – Reuters

 

 

 

 

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At least 34 migrants missing off Tunisia, two die after boat sinks

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(Last Updated On: March 16, 2024)

At least 34 migrants were missing and two died after their boat sank off Tunisia as they tried to cross the Mediterranean to Italy, the Tunisian national guard said on Friday.

The boat which sailed from Libya coast was carrying 70 people, and 34 people were rescued off the southern town of Zarzis.

This week, Tunisian coast guard also recovered five bodies of migrants.

With improving weather in the last weeks, the flow of African migrants, including Tunisians, in boats heading for Italy has increased.

A record 1,313 migrants were reported to have died or went missing off the Tunisian coast last year, a rights group said on last month, highlighting the unending migrant crisis in the North African country.

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